Saturday, February 17, 2007

Aquascutum

In my teens, Aquascutum was just one of those "mature" labels that I lumped with Barbour and Burberry. Impressionable as I was, I thought Burberry was the best, just because my mom and her friends thought so. I associated Aquascutum with stodgy fellows or country folks who would rather clomp around their garden in their wellies. But as I grew older, I saw the beauty in their clothes, that was never evident to me in my younger years. Its either my taste is evolving, or I really am getting older!

But with the ethos -- "Style is Never out of Fashion", this label will fast become my cup of tea. Classic, elegant and sophisticated, the label has been a perennial favorite among the fashion set and royalty alike. And rightly so, because like a good investment piece, this is something that will last you for years. The folks at Aquascutum have been designing since the 1800s and are known for fine craftsmanship . According to fashion-era.com:

"Aquascutum started as a tailoring firm called Box and Co., and established itself as Aquascutum in 1851 in London. The company invented a shower proof wool coat tailored with some style. The Prince of Wales, Edward VII was a trend setter and soon had a range of informal and formal sporting clothes made by Aquascutum."

In the First World War soldiers in the trenches wore ankle length Aquascutum coats that had military design features with epaulets and pockets. Aquascutum continued to make military coats between the wars and they also supplied fashion rainwear. Naturally some of the military influence crept into the fashion designs and the trenchcoat became a fashion garment."

As if to pay homage to their heritage, in-house designers Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler presented a rich collection mined from the label's military history for Fall 2007.

But its not all military chic next season! There were feminine pieces enough to make a woman soldier on to all those cocktails and dinners with a confident stride!